


Always Waiting

by Duchesse



Category: The Arcana (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Reader-Insert, Reader-Interactive, Romance, Self-Insert, Supernatural Elements, gender-neutral
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-13
Updated: 2017-11-13
Packaged: 2019-02-01 16:49:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12708963
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Duchesse/pseuds/Duchesse
Summary: His voice always beckoned you to him. He would wait as long as it took.[Count Lucio | Reader].





	Always Waiting

_“Why do you always falter? You’re always so close… won’t you stay for a while?”_

A soft sigh pushed past your lips as you rolled onto your back, the domed canopy overhead the only thing you could discern in the darkness. You could only assume that it was midnight now. The moon that guided you was hidden behind gray clouds, shrouding your vast room in an impenetrable blackness.

His words swirled through your mind, smooth and tantalizing as a serpent luring its prey closer. You found it strange; it was as though he was somewhere yet nowhere simultaneously. Moments often came where his voice ricocheted against your skull, and then fleetingly through your dark room, fading beyond the ornate double-doors leading to the corridors of marble.

_“Won’t you come again tonight? Won’t you come to me? Stay, just… for… a.. while…”_

You loathed his voice at the same time you pitied it. There was something about his soft tones, calling to you pleadingly that you couldn’t deny. Truthfully, you hated yourself for your kindness, for the person you promised yourself to be. Because in the end, the serpent barely concealed by the corpse of a rabbit had you fooled and you didn’t care.

_“Yes, yes, that’s right. Won’t you talk to me for a while like we used to? Don’t you recall our conversations of the glory days? You… loved… them…”_

The night brought a frigid chill only amplified by the emptiness in the corridors. Your bare feet struck the marble underfoot, sending a shiver down your spine, rousing goose flesh that you tried to fight off by rubbing your arms. The farther you traveled from your fine silk sheets and linens, the heavier and colder the air became, seeming ensnare you–almost as an unwelcome embrace.

It wasn’t until you stood before the abandoned wing, layers of dust and soot marring the walls and intricate portraits, suits of armor you only vaguely recognized now, that you realized just how far you had walked. You had thought, for sure, that the Countess’ hounds would had sniffed you out to investigate, yet you stood alone.

_“How enthralling. You’re almost there, just a little closer. I missed you, my dear…”_

Another shudder rocketed through your body, movements from the corner of your eye coaxed you to only stare at a barren wall. Still, you couldn’t say you weren’t surprised any longer when a monstrous silhouette flitted across your eyes and then further down the hall.

“I can’t keep answering your call like this,” you said aloud from your thoughts, letting a newfound burst of courage take your footfalls in the other direction.

_“No… no! Stay!”_

A yelp ripped from your throat when you were propelled several feet closer to the tarnished doors at the end of the hall. You could almost feel his presence there with you fully, imposing and powerful despite being reduced to a mere entity.

_“You’re almost there, I almost have you again. Why must you always flee?”_

You felt a fiery gaze gouge into your back, hot and a startling shade of red. Despite the force that restrained you, you somehow managed to shield your eyes from his gaze.

At this, you heard a breezy laugh that morphed into a more unnatural cackle.  _“My, are you afraid of me now? Is that trust you boasted about gone? Will you say your feelings are gone… as.. well?”_

“Lucio, leave.”

 _“My dear, only you are keeping yourself here,”_  he spoke with familiar clarity, almost as though he were standing before you as a person and not a beast.  _“I… cannot… make you return. You want to return to me.”_

_**‘Begone!’** _

A gasp left your lips more as a wheeze, body seizing as a something wound your body and slithered across your shoulders. You caught sight of the tip of a tail vibrating violently when you finally realized that it was Faust coiling around you protectively.

_“GEH… the familiar….”_

_**‘Begone!’**_  her voice echoed in your mind, her mouth splitting wide to emit a hiss.

All at once, the weight of his presence lifted off of you and floated towards the end of the corridor, seeping through the doors to where he once came. For the first time that night, a sigh of relief left you, stumbling forward to regain a sense of yourself again.

_“I will… never… let you go…”_

Without another glance, you carried your worn body through the palace towards the sanctuary of your own room. Faust’s tail continued to twitch, clearly on edge even passing the threshold. Her body wound your arm stiffly when you tried to remove her, leading you to believe she was as agitated at your actions as you were of yourself.

She stayed with you the rest of the night, nestled between the pillow and the crook of your neck.

Once again, the domed canopy loomed above you, holding your attention for far too long. The hours passed leading to dawn, coloring the sky in vivid hues of pink and orange.

Yet, you could still hear him:

_“I will always wait for… you…”_


End file.
